Bloomberg Originals
Bloomberg Originals produces shows on the intersection of business and culture, covering topics such as climate change, technology, finance, and sports.
Ethiopia’s Fuel Crisis Drove a Rapid Shift to Electric Cars
Ethiopia’s 2024 ban on importing new gasoline and diesel cars was driven less by climate policy than by a fuel bill of up to $5 billion a year that the country struggled to afford. Bloomberg’s report argues that cheap hydropower and Chinese-made electric vehicles have helped the shift take hold, but high purchase prices, unreliable electricity and limited charging infrastructure threaten to constrain its reach.
Criminal Gangs Target Vacant Homes as Mexico City Property Values Rise
A Bloomberg documentary reports that about 11 homes a day are effectively stolen in Mexico City, often after criminals move into properties left vacant and use forged documents to claim a right to stay. Andrea Navarro and lawyers featured in the report say rising property values have increased the incentive, while slow court proceedings and alleged corruption can leave owners locked out for years. City and federal measures may help resolve individual cases, but clearer records alone cannot address every vulnerability.
Strong Growth Hasn’t Made Everyday Costs Feel Manageable
Bloomberg’s report argues that the gap between strong US economic data and widespread financial pessimism reflects affordability, not a lack of growth: inflation has slowed, but prices remain far above pre-pandemic levels. Reporters Reade Pickert, Julia Fanzeres and Jeffrey Sparshott describe how fuel costs, housing and uneven job prospects leave many households under pressure, even as consumer spending and AI investment support the broader economy. Strong spending, they note, does not necessarily mean people feel financially secure.
Taylor Rooks Is Building a Career Beyond Sports Broadcasting
Taylor Rooks says hosting NBA on Prime has become a major career opportunity, but she does not want the role to define the limits of her ambitions. In her interview with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly for Bloomberg’s The Deal, she argues that strong work in sports can open doors to other projects, while describing how she prepares interviews to reveal something new about athletes and wants to reach audiences beyond sports.
Fixed Routes Make Passenger Ferries a Practical Test for Battery Shipping
Bloomberg’s report argues that passenger ferries are among the most practical ships to electrify: fixed routes and predictable port calls make it easier to calculate battery needs and recharge between trips. The case is illustrated by China Zorrilla, a 130-meter ferry under construction with more than 40 megawatt-hours of battery capacity, though its costs and the charging infrastructure it requires remain significant hurdles. The report presents ferries as a proving ground for battery propulsion, not a model for long-distance ocean shipping.
AI Infrastructure May Pay Off Before Its Applications Are Clear
Blackstone chief executive Stephen Schwarzman says the firm’s early AI investments grew out of a broader strategy: use information from its businesses to spot economic shifts before they appear in public data, then invest in the infrastructure those shifts require. He points to Blackstone’s $10 billion purchase of a data-center company in 2021 as a bet on AI’s power and computing needs, while arguing that the commercial returns may take years to emerge.
Japan’s ¥370 Trillion Investment Plan Tests Its Fiscal Limits
Japan’s Sanae Takaichi is betting that ¥370 trillion in public and private investment can revive growth and strengthen the country’s economic and security position. Bloomberg’s documentary examines the plan’s prospects as Japan contends with a weak yen, rising living costs, a shrinking workforce and heavy public debt—and as Takaichi’s harder stance on defense and China adds to the risks.
Henrik Lundqvist Built His Second Career Around MSG and Trusted Advisers
Henrik Lundqvist says his second career grew from two priorities: staying connected to the New York Rangers and building a business life without losing the focus that had served him as a player. In an interview with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly for Bloomberg’s The Deal, the former goalie describes how a conversation with Madison Square Garden chairman Jim Dolan opened a path to an ambassador role, while trusted advisers help him assess opportunities in business, broadcasting and charitable work.
Private Equity Is Bringing New Capital and Exit Options to Sports Teams
K. Don Cornwell argues that private equity can help sports teams grow without taking control from their owners. The co-founder of Dynasty Equity, which has invested in the Seattle Seahawks and TMRW Sports, says capital and technology can improve teams’ business performance and give owners a clearer path to selling—while revenue growth beyond ticket prices can help preserve fans’ access.
Athletic Brewing Built Non-Alcoholic Beer Around Better-Tasting Beer
Athletic Brewing co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt argues that non-alcoholic beer can grow by competing on the qualities of beer, not by presenting itself as a lesser substitute. In an interview with Raja Rajamannar, Shufelt says the company built its product around flavor and variety, then used sampling and partnerships in fitness and other social settings to make it easier for consumers to try. He sees the strategy as a way to make drinking without alcohol feel like participation, not an explanation.
Burnham’s Break With Thatcherism Runs Up Against Britain’s Debt
Andy Burnham’s pledge to reverse Margaret Thatcher’s economic legacy runs up against a constraint Thatcher did not face on the same scale: Britain’s higher debt and borrowing costs. Bloomberg’s analysis finds that Burnham’s push for more local power and public control of essential services would require choices about what to take back—and how to pay for it. Analysts Adrian Wooldridge, Philip Aldrick and Victoria Wakely argue that a viable break with Thatcherism would depend on expanding the state without losing the bond market’s confidence.
High Interest Costs Make Brazil’s Debt Harder to Contain
Brazil’s debt is pressing on households and businesses as high interest rates make borrowing harder to sustain, while interest on public debt exceeds 8% of GDP. As an election approaches, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seeking to support household demand and social spending, while his main rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, has pledged spending controls but offered few details. Whoever wins will face difficult choices over how to bring debt under control.
Lectric Made E-Bikes Mainstream by Lowering the Cost of Adoption
Lectric eBikes’ co-founders, Levi Conlow and Robby Deziel, argue that wider adoption of electric bikes depends less on making them faster or more premium than on making them affordable and easier to trust. In an interview with Raja Rajamannar, they describe a strategy built around direct sales, customer service, influencer recommendations and product changes prompted by riders. Their aim, they say, is to turn the e-bike from a leisure purchase into practical everyday transportation.
Russian Arms and Oil Keep India From Breaking With Moscow
India cannot make a clean break with Russia while Russian equipment underpins much of its military and Russian oil remains a major import, even as the US is its indispensable export market. Bloomberg shows how that bind grew from a Soviet-era relationship built on technology transfer and licensed arms production, then deepened after the Ukraine invasion as discounted crude made Russia India’s leading seaborne oil supplier.
LIV Golf Seeks New Funding as Saudi Support Recedes
LIV Golf’s future is uncertain as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund prepares to end its backing and the league seeks new financing, Bloomberg reports. League leader Scott O’Neil says a lead investor has signed a board-approved term sheet, though the deal is nonbinding; Bloomberg’s Reshmi Basu identifies BC Partners as the prospective investor and says potential backers have questioned the player equity required. The league must now show it can become a commercial business after more than $5 billion in Saudi spending failed to produce a television audience comparable with the PGA Tour’s.
Germany’s Industrial Model Is Buckling Under Energy Costs and Chinese Competition
Germany’s industrial model has become a drag on growth, Bloomberg’s Marilen Martin argues, as the advantages that sustained it—cheap Russian gas, open global trade and leadership in high-value manufacturing—have eroded. Economist Martin Ademmer says the decline in output since 2018 increasingly reflects a lasting loss of economic potential rather than a cyclical downturn. Higher energy costs, Chinese competition and a more protectionist trading environment now leave Berlin trying to defend industry with limited fiscal and political room to maneuver.
Illicit Revenues Help Sustain Myanmar’s Fragmented Civil War
Bloomberg Investigates reporter Matthew Campbell argues that Myanmar’s civil war has become an income system as well as a struggle for territory and political control. With the military and its allies controlling an estimated 40% to 45% of the country, competing armed groups can monetize mining access, border crossings, illicit trade and scam compounds—revenues Campbell says can make continued war more profitable than peace. The result, the reporting shows, is borne by civilians displaced, impoverished and separated by a conflict with no decisive end in sight.
ICE Raids in Charlotte Triggered a Prolonged Local Spending Decline
Bloomberg Businessweek reports that DHS raids in Charlotte’s immigrant neighborhoods emptied commercial corridors, cutting customers, workers and household income from the local economy. Business owners including Manolo’s Bakery’s Manuel Betancur say fear of arrests sharply reduced sales and forced staffing losses, while University of Pennsylvania economist Zeke Hernandez estimates enforcement-targeted areas saw $14 billion less card spending and a sustained decline in foot traffic. DHS says its campaign makes communities safer, but the reporting documents effects reaching businesses, schools and families beyond those detained.
A Super El Niño Threatens Crops, Shipping and Energy Systems
A potentially historic El Niño is unfolding in a world already 1.4°C warmer than before industrialisation, creating conditions in which a natural Pacific cycle can intensify heat, drought and flooding and carry local shocks into the global economy. Akshat Rathi says the added ocean heat can make existing extremes more severe; in Panama, reduced rainfall has already prompted cargo limits at the canal, threatening to disrupt trade flows and energy markets beyond the country.
Brazil’s Deforestation Crackdown Is Shifting Pressure to Bolivia
Bloomberg Investigates reports that Brazil’s tougher anti-deforestation enforcement has coincided with accelerating forest loss across the border in Bolivia, particularly around Santa Cruz and San Ignacio de Velasco. The investigation examines how Brazilian agricultural capital, cheaper land and proposed transport links are reshaping that frontier, including a reported deal involving a 30,019-hectare managed-forest property. Bolivian officials argue that investment can raise productivity without extensive clearing; environmentalists and Indigenous leaders warn that the same expansion model could shift Amazon destruction rather than contain it.
Brazil’s Deforestation Crackdown May Be Shifting Pressure Into Bolivia
Brazil’s tougher enforcement helped cut Amazon deforestation, but Bloomberg’s Fabiano Maisonnave reports that clearing is accelerating across the border in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department, where industrial agriculture is advancing toward San Ignacio de Velasco. Environmental researcher Sandra Cuellar says 78% of Bolivia’s deforestation occurs in Santa Cruz, while Maisonnave raises the question of whether Brazilian commodity producers are shifting pressure into a frontier where land ownership is difficult to trace. A confidential meeting between Brazilian producers and Bolivian and Brazilian ministers has added to concerns over who will control the expansion and what it will mean for the remaining forest.
Russian Arms Demand Drove North Korea’s $22 Billion Windfall
Bloomberg Economics estimates that North Korea earned as much as $22 billion abroad from 2022 to 2025, nearly four times its revenue in the previous four years, despite sweeping sanctions. The source argues that Russia’s demand for weapons has supplied the largest windfall, while cryptocurrency theft and trade with China provide convertible currency and essential imports. Adam Farrar says the result is not broad prosperity but greater capacity for Kim Jong Un’s regime to fund military modernization and preserve its rule.
Pakistan Courts Trump for Capital, Energy and Diplomatic Leverage
Pakistan is using its access to Donald Trump’s administration to seek investment, financing and regional economic openings, not merely diplomatic prominence. Bloomberg’s reporting shows Islamabad pairing commercial deals—from the Roosevelt Hotel redevelopment to minerals and crypto agreements—with mediation between the US and Iran, while preserving its ties with China. The wager, Daniel Ten Kate argues, is that a relationship built around Trump and Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, can secure capital and legitimacy—though it remains vulnerable to Trump’s shifting interests.
Texas Uses State Grants to Build a Commercial-Space Cluster
Texas is building a statewide commercial-space industry around NASA talent in Houston, launch sites on the coast and in West Texas, and manufacturing and testing operations in Central Texas. Bloomberg reports that state grants are reinforcing a model in which NASA contracts help companies finance early development, while Texas offers industrial capacity and a business-friendly environment to keep them expanding locally. Loren Grush, Bloomberg’s space reporter, says SpaceX’s scale has made the strategy more visible—and its environmental and local costs around Boca Chica harder to ignore.